Португалийн шигшээ баг Испанид хожигдсон тоглолтын үеэр Педро Нетугийн хөлбөмбөгийн гутлын өсгий хэсгийг зүссэн байсан нь олны анхаарлыг татлаа. Энэ нь хувцас солих өрөөний тоглоом бус, харин “Хаглунд” хэмээх өсгийний ясны эмгэгийг намдаах зорилготой эмнэлгийн шинжтэй арга хэмжээ юм.
Филлиппе Коутиньо, Роберто Фирмино, Матс Хуммельс, Даниэле Де Росси зэрэг нэрт тоглогчид ч ижил арга хэрэглэж байв. Энэхүү эмгэг нь өсгийний яс томорч, Ахиллийн шөрмөс болон зөөлөн эдийг цочроон өвдөлт үүсгэдэг тул тоглогчид гутлынхаа хатуу хэсгийг авч, даралтыг багасгадаг байна.
Мэргэжилтнүүдийн тайлбарласнаар, энэ нь өсгийний яс, шөрмөс, үений шингэнтэй уутны үрэвслээс үүдэлтэй өвдөлт бөгөөд тамирчид тоглолтын чухал мөчүүдэд өвдөлтөө намдаахын тулд ийнхүү арга хэмжээ авдаг. Клубүүд ихэвчлэн мэргэжлийн эмч нарын тусламжтайгаар гутлын тогтвортой байдлыг алдагдуулахгүйгээр ийм өөрчлөлтийг хийдэг байна.
Эмчилгээний хувьд физик эмчилгээ, тарилга болон дасгалын ачааллыг зохицуулах нь түгээмэл боловч мэс заслын аргаас аль болох зайлсхийхийг зорьдог. Хэдийгээр АНУ-ын хөнгөн атлетикч Донаван Брейзер шиг удаан хугацааны мэс засал, нөхөн сэргээлт хийлгэх тохиолдол гардаг ч, хөлбөмбөгчид ихэвчлэн гутлаа өөрчлөх энгийн аргаар өвдөлтөө удирддаг байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
A pair of scissors, a £300 football boot and one of the stranger-looking kit tweaks in elite football. Pedro Neto had the back of his boot cut open during Portugal’s last-16 defeat against Spain — but it’s not a dressing-room prank.
The image of Neto’s sock showing through the heel of his boot prompted the question: why do some players take a blade to footwear designed down to the millimetre?
Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Mats Hummels and Daniele De Rossi have all worn similar cut-out boots. There could be several reasons for this, but one possible explanation is Haglund’s deformity, a heel condition that can make tight footwear difficult to tolerate.
But what is it? How does it affect athletes? And is there a cure?
What is Haglund’s deformity?
Haglund’s deformity is a bony enlargement at the back of the heel, close to where the Achilles tendon attaches.
Michael Robson, a specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist at LDN Physio, says some people can have the extra bony prominence without experiencing any symptoms.
“It really only becomes a painful syndrome when that enlarged bone repeatedly irritates the soft tissue around it,” Robson tells The Athletic.
That soft tissue can include the Achilles and the retrocalcaneal bursa — a small fluid-filled sac near the back of the heel that helps cushion the area.
Bartholomew Hudson-Gill, a physiotherapist at Opus Biological near Harley Street, London, who has worked with elite footballers at a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence, describes Haglund’s as a combination of the shape of the heel bone, thickening of the Achilles tendon and irritation of the bursa.
“That bursa, essentially, is like a shock absorber,” Hudson-Gill says.
“The tendon becomes thicker, the bursa gets irritated, then the bone starts to get irritated.
“They load it more, it gets more sore. That soreness means there are changes in the bone, which means it then gets more sore.”
Why cut a hole in a boot?
Neto has not publicly said why his boot was modified, and a blister or another form of irritation could also explain a cut-out boot.
But if a player is managing Haglund’s deformity, opening up the back of the boot can reduce pressure on the heel.
Players may try to avoid rigid heel counters — the firm structure at the back of the boot — because they can press directly into the irritated area. That can mean using a softer heel or removing part of the boot altogether.
“That stops the boot physically compressing that tendon and that bone so that it stops irritating,” Hudson-Gill says.
At clubs, this is not always a player changing their own boot. Hudson-Gill says clubs may use a podiatrist to make the alteration because they know where to cut and how to keep the boot stable.
Can Haglund’s deformity be treated?
Once a player has the bony prominence, the aim is usually to manage the irritation around it rather than make the bump disappear.
Management typically begins by reducing pressure on the area and calming the Achilles and calf before rebuilding strength and gradually reintroducing football-specific load.
But in a tournament or during a season, the priority is often to keep symptoms under control rather than stop completely.
“They’re not going to stop playing because of a little bit of pain in the back of their heel,” Hudson-Gill says. “They might be needed for a cup final or World Cup qualifiers.”
Many players can manage the condition through boot alterations, physiotherapy, shockwave therapy, injection therapy and changes to activity. Surgery is possible if conservative management fails, but Hudson-Gill says many players can avoid it.
The condition is named after Patrick Haglund, the Swedish surgeon who described it in 1927. Almost a century later, in elite football, one of the most visible ways to manage it may still be the simplest: give the heel somewhere to go.
‘You’re walking with a limp’
The Athletic‘s Stuart James speaks from personal, painful experience
I heard, “You’re walking with a limp” a lot. On good days, it was like a dull ache. On bad days, my heel throbbed and I dreaded wearing any sort of shoe with a rigid back.
Putting football boots on to do coaching (you’re not allowed to wear trainers, or sneakers, on artificial 3G pitches in the United Kingdom) was a nightmare. I’d leave the laces undone and wear the left boot, which is the foot with the problem, as loose as possible to try to relieve the pressure on my heel.
Initially, I had no idea what this protruding bone was, and then I mentioned it to my mum, who is a big athletics fan. “It sounds like you’ve got what Donavan Brazier had – Haglund’s syndrome,” she said.
Brazier is an 800-metre U.S. track athlete who won gold at the 2019 World Championships, breaking a national record. Aged 22, he was a star. But then injuries got in the way. First, a fractured tibia and later a lump at the back of his heel. Brazier didn’t compete for three years and had multiple operations. “I had the Haglund’s thing,” he explained.
Donavan Brazier, pictured in 2021, has suffered with Haglund’s (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
It didn’t take long for a consultant to establish that was my problem too. “X-ray confirms that you have a fairly significant posterior superior prominence to the calcaneum (the heel bone), consistent with Haglund’s deformity, with new bone formation and the suggestion of some bony erosions, which suggests an inflammatory process.”
Haglund’s is surprisingly common and can be caused by all sorts of things, including wearing footwear that’s too tight (something footballers often do with their boots), and over-training.
The consultant gave me three choices: wear backless shoes (not exactly practical), try heel lifts (a type of shoe insert), or undergo surgery. So, effectively, there was one choice.
I had an operation last December.
All sorted then? Not really. Recovery has been painful and slow. I struggled with the lack of progress almost as much as the physio struggled with my lack of patience. “What did you expect?” she said after I complained about still being in pain three months later. “It’s like a Black & Decker saw has been taken to the back of your heel.”
I was later offered a second operation, involving detaching the Achilles, removing more bone and then reattaching the Achilles. No thanks.
Last week in Dallas, I ran for the first time since the surgery. Brazier’s 800-metre time isn’t under threat and I’m not totally pain-free. But it’s a start.
